The shooting took place outside of a barbecue restaurant inside of which were some armed men, police said they learned. Police had fired tear gas and smoke grenades in the area in order to reach the injured man, Johnson said during a news conference 3 a.m. Sunday.

The tear gas was deployed in an attempt to rescue the man who had been shot and critically injured (who was taken to the hospital in a car).

Protesters gathered after the curfew standing with their hands in the air, a pose some witnesses said they saw 18-year-old Michael Brown take when he was shot to death Aug. 9 by St. Louis County Police officer Darren Wilson.

Brown's death sparked more than a week of protests, riots and looting in the Missouri town, prompting Nixon to declare a state of emergency Saturday.

"No justice! No curfew!" some of the protesters chanted early Sunday morning. "We ready. We ready. We ready for y'all. We are Mike Brown."

"You are in violation of a state-imposed curfew. You must disperse immediately. Failure to comply, may result in arrest," an officer told the crowd.

Seven people were arrested Sunday morning and charged with failure to disperse.

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